When The Lights Go Out
by Raven46
Summary: Modern Day, When a group of friends from high school are forced back together for the weekend after their large falling out, what happens when the lights go out? Why are they brought together in the first place? What were the reasons for stopping their fr
1. Welcome?

Disclaimer: I don't own newsies, nope I don't, and I don't own# Mayfly Sita does! and Tabloid owns Smalltalk! EEP! I own everything else muahahahahaha

SITA BITA!!!! MY AWESOME BETA!!! I luffle you to bits *huggles* 

New York City, August 14, 2003#  
  
Mayfly Bennett skipped down the stairs of her apartment building and began trotting down the sidewalk. She approached her Honda CR-V, unlocked it, and got inside. She studied her green eyes in the mirror, wiping away some smudged eyeliner and adjusting her contacts, which covered her true brown eyes. She clipped her brown hair back away from her face, letting the red streaks stand out even more. With a sigh, she started up the engine and pulled out of the parking space. Mayfly began to drive, a drive she would rather not be taking on this day. She was heading to the Upper East side of Manhattan to spend the weekend at Raven's house. Now, it would have been all right if the members of the group were talking or had even _seen _each other since high school. The reality of it all was they _hadn't _been talking, and they _hadn't _seen each other. Actually, their senior year had been an emotional disaster to every one of them and had destroyed their friendships, breaking them apart indefinitely.   
  
Smalltalk Conners ran down the subway stairs at the speed of light, her strawberry blonde hair trailing behind her. She began waving her hands frantically at the departing train.  
"STOP! STOOOOOOOPPPPPPP! NO, STUPID TRAIN, YOU'RE NOT  
SUPPOSED TO GO WITHOUT ME ON YOU! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" She  
stamped her feet onto the ground and blew the hair from her eyes as she watched the train take off down the tunnel. Now she had to wait, and wait and wait, and wait some more. Waiting was _not _what she did best. Furthermore, she wasn't even slightly pleased about doing this whole weekend sleepover thing at Raven's. She just worried about all the work that she would have to catch up on after this weekend, especially after the test she gave her students earlier that day. She had planned to finish grading them that weekend, but instead, she received one of the most shocking messages of her life.   
  
_BEEP!  
  
"Um... yeah. Hi, it's Raven... got your number from somewhere. Listen, I'm not doing this out of trying to be friends again, but Lucky is... well... she's dying. And she wants us all to meet somewhere and talk things through before it happens. She wants us to make amends... yeah, right, us make amends. HA! Well, uh, I caved. and I said that I would try it out.... so, basically, the "group" is comin' to my house for the weekend. So that means you too, Smalls. Even the asshole is gonna be there, so no buts about it. You're coming."  
  
BEEP!  
_  
The first thing that registered was that Lucky was dying. The next thing she realized was the fact that she had to go to Raven's house for the weekend. And there were "no buts about it." The train pulled into the station, and she quickly hopped on, took a seat, and let the train take her to her destination.   
  
Jack Kelly sat on the airplane and checked his watch for the thousandth time that hour. Why was he doing this again? Oh, yeah, for Lucky. Lucky was the only one who kept out of the feud between them all. The worst part of this was having to stay at his ex-girlfriend's house, and they didn't break up on friendly terms either. Oh, no, it was like a blood bath. But, still, here he was, landing in JFK airport. He collected his overnight bag and exited the plane. As he walked down the terminal, he noticed a sign with "Sullivan" on it and knew immediately it was for him. When he stepped to the curb, he was shocked to find a black stretch limo in front of him. Jack stepped up to the chauffeur and motioned towards the limousine.  
  
"She said you would be confused. Miss Beaufont sent it for you, and she also told me to say that it doesn't mean that she likes you in any way. She still hates you with a burning passion, but she felt that you shouldn't have to walk from Long Island all the way to the Upper East side." Jack rolled his eyes at the speech and got into the limousine. Jack could not believe that she traveled in this thing to every place she went. This was just unreal extravagance.   
  
Smalltalk looked down at the paper with Raven's address and then back at the mansion in front of her. This couldn't be it. _I mean, fine, Raven does movies and stuff, but this is unreal_, she thought. Smalltalk walked slowly to the front door and rang the bell. She stood there and waited for Raven to come to the door, or maybe her butler. With this house, you never know. Slowly, the door creaked open, and Raven stood in the doorway, her dark chocolate eyes peering into Smalltalk's hazel ones. The stood there for a few seconds until one of them spoke.  
  
"Hey, Ravy," Smalltalk said with a smile, and suddenly, Raven couldn't remember why the girls had begun to fight that last year in high school. She smiled back at her.   
  
"Hey, Smalls." Smalltalk finally gave into her urge to hug Raven and hugged her  
tightly. Both of them laughed.  
  
"Jack is seriously comin'?"  
  
"Yep... can't believe I am even allowing him to put a toe in my home."  
  
"You shouldn't... beat him, hurt him, SLAM THE DOOR IN HIS FACE!" Raven  
laughed and escorted Smalltalk into the living room.   
  
"Oh, my God! Is that Krispy Kreme Donuts I smell?! AND STARBUCK'S!  
DONUTS! DONUT, DONUT! DONUT! DONUT! DONUT!"  
  
"SMALLS!" Smalltalk looked at Raven and giggled before grabbing a donut and  
plopping into one of the large easy chairs in the room. Raven sat down as well, and they started up with some gossip, scooting around the topic of high school memories.   
  
Mayfly parked her car and stared at the Mansion in awe. She slowly got out, pulled her sunglasses off her face, and laid them on the roof of her car.  
  
"Well, I'll be damned," she muttered to herself, staring at the massive brownstone  
mansion. She slammed the car door shut and walked up to the door, rang the bell and began to idly look around her. Raven pulled opened the door and stared at Mayfly.  
  
"YOUR EYES ARE GREEN!?" Raven exclaimed.   
  
"Yes! And your hair is black! Didn't it used to be auburn?" Mayfly said, smiling.  
Raven smiled back, and they hugged and started chatting it up.   
  
"MAYFLY! MAYFLY!" Smalltalk leaped out of her chair and onto Mayfly, knocking her to the floor with an "umph." Raven stood in the doorway, giggling.  
  
"Who let you have sugar?" Mayfly joked.  
  
"Raven has Krispy Kremes!" Smalltalk said happily, grabbing yet another donut and returning to her seat. Once again, the girls situated themselves and began to talk about everything and anything but senior year of high school. That is, until Mayfly brought up a classic rebel Raven moment.   
  
"You _have _to remember doing this, Raven."  
  
"Oh, God, what now?" Raven rolled her eyes and took a sip of her caramel mocchiato.   
  
"Mr. Austin, Spanish class..."  
  
"OH, NO!"   
  
"OH, YES!"   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
The three girls strolled down the hall lazily, taking their sweet time getting to room 414, Mr. Austin, Spanish.  
Jack suddenly came up behind them and slapped Raven's behind. Raven growled, turned around sharply, and grabbed Jack's very sensitive area.  
  
"How do you like it, Jack?" she asked, smiling pleasantly at him.   
  
"Come on, Ravy, I was just playin' with you." He winced.   
  
"Play with me on our own time." She smirked at him as Mayfly and Smalltalk giggled.   
Jack then threw his arm around Raven's shoulders, and they started up their walk again. Blink and Spot suddenly came charging down the hallway, slamming into Mayfly and Smalltalk.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Smalltalk screamed and chased after  
them, but the boys only quickened their pace as the raging girl came behind them, flailing arms and all. Blink doubled back as Smalltalk chased Spot down the hallway and into Mr. Austin's room. Mayfly watched in horror as Blink walked up next to her. She suddenly blushed bright red as he started to come closer. Raven laughed as she and Jack snuck backwards and began their daily make out session against the wall of the hallway. Jack leaned pleasantly over her body as she braced herself against the wall.   
  
"Uh... um... hi, Blink." Mayfly smiled nervously as her face turned an even brighter crimson. She hugged her books closer to her chest.  
  
"Hey there, Mayfly. Aren't you lovely ladies late for Spanish?" Blink charmed her and smiled. Mayfly nodded her head quickly, and he left strolling down the hallway.   
  
"Could I have been anymore goddamn spastic!" Mayfly cried, slamming her Spanish book into her head. "Stupid!" Slam. "Stupid!" Slam "Stupid!" Slam.  
  
"MAY! STOP IT! YOU'LL KILL ALL YOUR VITAL BRAIN CELLS!" Raven cried  
from underneath Jack.  
  
"Like she has any at all..." Jack replied. Raven slapped him hard in the shoulder.  
Mayfly glared at him and took off into room 414, with Raven and Jack trailing behind her.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The girls were all in hysterics at this point, snorting and grabbing their stomachs.  
  
"Oh, God, May, you had _such _a crush on Blink." Raven snorted more and covered her mouth. She reached for her coffee and took a sip.   
  
"Poor Jack. Bet his nuts couldn't function for a week after that!" Smalltalk cried  
through her laughter. Raven spewed her coffee all over the room, and the girls grew even more hysterical.   
  
"Actually, that's false....." Raven said, chuckling.  
  
"STOP, RAVY, STOOOOOOOOOPPPPPP! NO, THE HORROR! THE HORROR!" Smalltalk covered her eyes and started shaking.  
  
"Sweetie, you can still hear me with your eyes covered."   
  
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! MY EYES ARE CLOSED!" Raven burst out in another  
round of hysterics.   
  
"OKAY, OKAY! LET ME FINISH!" Mayfly interceded, before biting Smalltalk on  
the shoulder.   
"OWWWWWWWWW!" Smalltalk pouted and rubbed her arm   
  
"Anyway... once we finally got into the Spanish room......"   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
They all took their seats, managing somehow to all get together at one end of the  
room. Their teacher, Mr. Austin, had massive eyes that bugged out of his head when  
raging mad, and it always seemed Raven got him to that point. Jack and Raven were  
seated in the back of the room and opened their books together. Immediately, she began copying Jack's homework into her own, while Jack annoyed the shit out of Spot. Blink had managed somehow to slip in between Mayfly and Smalltalk as always jammed in next to Raven.   
  
"Start on page 42 and fill in everything until page 46." Mr. Austin announced to the class. A collective groan filled the room. "Shut up! We are _not _here to enjoy ourselves, seniors. We are hear to LEARN and LEARNING is NOT fun." Raven rolled her eyes and mimicked him silently.  
  
"LEARNING is NOT fun." Jack slammed his hand over his mouth as he laughed at her. Smalltalk as usual began blabbing something to Raven and as she went to say something, Mr. Austin rammed his face into Raven's.   
  
"Yes, Mr. Austin?" Raven smiled widely at him.  
  
"Have you finished your work, Ms. Beaufont?" he growled at her.   
  
"Of course, Mr. Austin."  
  
"Really, Ms. Beaufont?"  
  
"Why, yes, Mr. Austin." By this time, the whole class was starting to chuckle.   
  
"Ms. Beaufont, I do not think it possible that you have completed this assignment. Pick up your pen and start working, NOW." Raven glared at him as she picked up her clicky pen, clicked it on and then clicked it off. She then slammed it down in the desk in front of him.  
  
"There. I picked up my pen."  
  
"Get out." He pointed at the door.  
  
"Of course, Mr. Austin." She picked up her books angrily and stormed across the  
room. She stopped directly in front of the door and turned back to Mr. Austin. "Oh, and I did learn something in your class today, Mr. Austin, _jódalo_." She smiled widely at him before flinging open the classroom door, and slamming it on her way out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
They were all rolling on the floor with laughter, wiping the tears from their eyes when the doorbell rang.   
  
Kid Blink Ballat walked down the block, whistling. This was one meeting he was  
willing to put off as long as possible. Seeing the guys might be okay, but the girls? Oh boy, he knew he was in for a rough weekend. Now, if he knew exactly where he was going her would have realized that he was absolutely lost.  
  
"Shit!" he said to no one.  
  
"Now, Blink... what vulgar language." Spot came out from the shadows and smirked at Blink. Blink jumped and covered his heart with his hand. Spot laughed. "Good thing I live here. You're lost... come on, we'll walk there together." Spot nodded in the correct direction, and the two boys headed off down the street together, trying to make conversation.   
  
As the boys approached the house, they couldn't help but let their jaws drop in shock.   
  
"Ho-ly shit..." Spot said as he ran a finger through his hair.  
  
"You're tellin' me, Conlon." Blink agreed. "I'm afraid to walk up the front steps... I  
feel like they'll arrest me for trespassing."  
  
"Been there, done that." Spot said casually and strolled up to the stoop.  
  
"WHAT!?"   
  
"Calm down, Blink." Spot turned to him. "Just kidding... maybe."  
  
"This doesn't help the situation."  
  
"Nothing is going to help THIS situation, Blink."  
  
"Let's ring the bell and get this over with, huh?"  
  
"Suuure." Suddenly, from out of nowhere a man slammed right into Blink, knocking him to the floor.  
  
"What the hell?" Blink looked into the man's eyes and started laughing. "Godamnit, Pie."  
  
"Blink?" Pie Eater questioned, getting up and extending a hand to Blink on the floor.  
  
"Well, now that most of the male section of the group is here, why don't we ring the fuckin' door bell already? I'm tired of standing on Raven's stoop, looking like a jackass," Spot said staring the two boys down.  
  
"I love that show," Pie remarked causally.  
  
"Doesn't everyone? NOW CAN I RING THE FUCKIN BELL?!" Spot went from  
calm to angry in about two second flat.  
  
"Good to see some things never change... still bipolar Spot?" Blink asked.  
  
"I'm on meds." The group of them laughed, until Spot suddenly became somber.  
  
"FUCK! I forgot my medication!"  
"You're definitely a smart one, Conlon."  
  
"Go shove it, Blink."  
  
"Okay... we're here two minutes, and there is already a fight. I think we should ring the bell." Pie stated stepping between the two. They stared at Pie, looking speechless. "RING THE BELL!" Spot rolled his eyes and did as told.  
  
Raven rolled her eyes as she got up from her position on the couch. Raven opened the door and immediately her smile zipped into a frown. She glared at the three boys in front of her before moving out of the way and motioning them to enter the room. Spot, Blink and Pie did so as they looked at each girl in the room. Raven slammed the door behind her and plopped down next to Smalltalk.  
  
"Do you think Pie noticed me?" Smalltalk whispered to Raven. Mayfly burst out  
laughing and then caught Blink's eye. She blushed bright red and turned her face away from them.  
  
"Well, boys, sit down. There's coffee and donuts, enjoy." Raven said.  
  
"Someone's missing..." Spot said picking up a large cup of coffee. Raven rolled her eyes as if to make him think who could possibly be missing that was actually wanted here. She glared at him.  
  
"I KNOW WHO'S MISSING!" Smalltalk chirped and jumped out of her chair. She  
ran to the center of the room.  
  
"Smalls... sit down." Raven said, aggravated.  
  
"NOPE! I KNOW WHO'S MISSING!" Smalltalk then began dancing in a circle and  
suddenly burst into song. "SANTA FE! ARE YOU THERE?!" Raven jumped up quickly, and Mayfly, knowing the girl's, temper rushed over and grabbed Raven by the arms. Spot started to chuckle and soon Blink and Pie were in hysterics with him.  
  
"LALALALA! FRANCIS SULLIVAN IS MISSING! JACK KELLY, ASSHOLE  
EXTRAORDINAIRE! COWBOY FROM SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO! LALALA!"  
  
"Smalltalk... sshhh, Raven's gonna have an aneurysm if you don't SHUT UP!" Mayfly exclaimed pushing Raven down into her seat. Smalltalk giggled insanely, did a somersault and landed sitting Indian style on the floor. Everyone in the room was silent.  
  
"His flight left at twelve, he should be here soon... well, not counting the two hours of rush hour traffic." Raven smirked.  
  
"You did that on purpose didn't you, Rave?" Blink asked.  
  
"You know it." Raven smiled. And so the group sat in an awkward silence, filling in  
time with comments and casual conversation.  
  
"So, um... Spot, where ya been?' Pie asked. Spot looked at him, shocked his  
whereabouts were even considered.   
  
"Yeah, Spot. I mean, you did disappear for awhile," Blink stated in between a bite of a donut. The girls all perked up at this and inched forward in their seats.  
  
"None of your business." Spot glared at them all and leaned back in his seat.  
  
"Come on, Conlon, couldn't be that bad," Pie continued.  
  
"I've been in prison for three years." At those words everyone's eyes widened.   
  
"What'd ya do?" Raven asked, finally making conversation between the segregated group.  
  
"That is DEFINITELY not ANYONE'S business but my OWN," Spot growled at her. He stood up quickly and stormed out of the room.  
  
"So he really wasn't kidding..."  
  
"SHUT UP, BLINK, YA FUCKIN' DEMENTED PIRATE!" Raven yelled.   
  
"HEY, I DIDN'T SAY A DAMN THING TO YOU ALL AFTERNOON!"  
  
"I DON'T CARE, JUST SHUT UP!"  
  
"HEY! BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Mayfly yelled. Smalltalk and Pie just looked on  
with interested eyes. They knew the fights would break out sooner or later; the eerie calm was to good to be true.   
  
"STAY OUT OF IT, MAY!"  
  
"NO! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!"  
  
"OH, YEAH? WHO INTRODUCED HIM TO THAT GIRL, MAY?!" Ding dong.  
Everyone froze. Raven stood up and stormed over to the door.   
  
"Only one person left. Wonder who it could be?" Raven said sarcastically. She flung the door open, locked eyes with Jack's, and slammed it shut in his face, causing it to collide with his nose. Everyone inside covered up their laughter.   
  
"I'm an actress. I can act at being nice to him," Raven said to herself as she calmly opened the door. She put on a bright smile.  
  
"I'm so sorry Jack. I didn't realize you rang the bell! Please, come in."   
  
"You're full of shit, Raven," Jack said as he entered the house holding his nose.  
Immediately, tension filled the room like a tidal wave.  


They all sat in a tension-filled, awkward silence, knowing that Jack had caused it. Raven shot daggers at him; if looks could kill Jack, would have been six feet under. Blink and Pie sat nervously studying the furniture, the walls, and basically anything other than the people in the room. Mayfly kept shooting glances at Blink, and Smalltalk was fidgeting like crazy.   
  
"Where's Spot?" Jack asked.  
  
"Up my ass," Raven replied and took a seat. "Wanna go look?" She glared.   
  
"Not like I've never seen it before, Rave," Jack shot back at her. Everyone gulped at his direct comment to their former relationship.  
  
"Too bad for you; you'll never tap it again."   
  
"Not missing out on much." No one bothered to interrupt or even try to stop the rude comments between the two. One could feel the menace sliding out of Raven's mouth, and Jack just returned the favor casually.  
  
"Of course not. You couldn't get it up half the time, anyway."  
  
"Okay... anybody want something to drink? ...how about a nice hard drink, something dry, something that will make us incoherent for the weekend," Blink said, laughing nervously.   
  
"Get me one," was Pie's answer as the girls groaned. At that moment, Spot came charging into the room, smoking a cigarette with a strange look on his face.   
  
"You have your own dance studio?" he asked, absolutely shocked.  
  
"Yes, Spot, I have my own dance studio."  
  
"Why? That's not normal; that's isolation to the extreme."  
  
"Well, I can't take class outside in a studio because I get mobbed, so I built my own."  
  
"I don't believe it," Jack said plainly. "This whole thing. The house, the limo,  
everything."  
  
"MOVIES, JACK! Raven's been in like TWELVE! EEP! I LUFFLE TWISTED  
YOUTH!" Smalltalk crowed excitedly. Everyone laughed.  
  
"That one! You played the girl... the twisted one who fucked everything up?" Blink  
asked.  
  
"Yeah... they made me die my hair pink and wear green contacts," Raven said  
laughing. "It took me forever to get my hair normal again, hence the black hair. It was the only thing that would cover it up."  
  
"Touche!" Mayfly cried. "Red doesn't come out either, so I just keep adding more."  
  
"Do you even go to the movies, Jack? Or own a DVD?" Raven inquired.  
  
"Back to the dance studio!" Spot said. Raven sighed got up and motioned for everyone to follow her. They walked down a long hallway until Raven pushed open one of the doors, and sure enough, inside was a large dance studio.   
  
"GOTTA DANCE! GOTTA DANCE!" Mayfly sang out into the room. Everyone  
looked at her like she had grown three heads. "What? I love musicals... okay?"  
  
"Not sayin' a word," Blink replied, and Mayfly let a tinge of pink creep up to her face.   
  
"So what do you do in here?" Pie asked.  
  
"I dance, moron."  
  
"Alone?" Smalltalk said, astonished.  
  
"Yes, alone."  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Well what, Smalls?"  
  
"Dance, silly-willy!" Smalltalk shoved Raven into the room.  
  
"So that's why you're in black cut-offs and a wife beater, and your hair is tied into a ponytail. I thought maybe you lost all your jeans or something," Blink said with a laugh. "You used to have that one pair, the light denim Lee's that were ready for the trash that you always wore."  
  
"They were the easiest to get off, Blink. That's why I wore them." Raven winked at him and stepped into the center of the room.   
  
"It helps me relax when I dance. You guys should remember that, I used to try and teach all of you how to partner me," Raven remembered with a smile. Spot started laughing immediately.  
  
"Remember that one time at my house, Ravy?"  
  
"Wait? When?"  
  
"When you snuck in through the fire escape." Raven burst out laughing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mayfly and Raven snuck into Spot's house through the fire escape, as usual.  
  
"Hello, ladies," Spot said with a smirk.  
  
"Save it for some _ladies _who care, Conlon," Raven said with a smile and pulled  
Mayfly through the window.   
  
"My mother is gonna go ballistic," Mayfly whined.  
  
"Shut up." Spot rolled his eyes.   
  
"Well, teach, Rave." Jack suddenly burst into the bedroom, panting, and closed the door behind him.  
  
"Spot, if you don't get rid of that fucking pit bull, I will kill you," Jack said  
breathlessly. "I ran around the block three times before I made it to your door." Everyone burst out laughing, except Jack who didn't find it so amusing.  
  
"Well... I guess I better start teaching."  
  
"Show us some of that ballet shit," Spot commented.  
  
"Well sure, if you put it that way." Mayfly giggled. Raven tossed Spot a ballet CD  
from her pocket, and he put it on softly. Raven walked over to Jack and took his hand.  
  
"He's my partner on account of he's my boyfriend. May, work with Spot." Mayfly  
whined. "He won't drop you I promise, and Jack won't drop me, right?" she said to him.  
  
"Of course not, baby, wouldn't dream of it."   
  
"Something easy to start... got it! When I lift my leg in first arabesque, place your arm under my thigh, then with your other arm wrap it around my waist. Then lift me and dip me low to the floor so that I am diagonal to your body, looking up at you, okay? Boys, you got that?" Raven instructed.  
  
"One question? Arawhatta?" Spot asked. Raven rolled her eyes.  
  
"Doesn't matter, 'cause me and May have to do it not you." Raven put Mayfly in the proper position and showed Spot where to place his arms and hands. Spot did the simple lift with no problem. Mayfly squealed with excitement.  
  
"I can dance! I can dance! EEP! EEP! EEP!"  
  
"SHH! You sound like a retarded chicken!" Raven scolded and the room burst into laughter. Raven put herself in first arabesque in front of Jack. He did the same as Spot but held her longer until Raven turned her head to look at him.  
  
"Put me down!"  
  
"No... I like where my hand is." Jack said cockily.  
  
"Ha, ha. Put me down!"  
  
"Kiss me first, and I'll let you go."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Kiss him already! I actually want learn something else tonight!" Mayfly cried. Raven tapped her lips to Jack's, and he set her down nicely.  
  
"Jackass," Raven whispered  
  
"What? At least I didn't drop you," Jack said. They tried a few other things, and then a brilliant idea flopped into Raven's head.  
  
"Try this with me, Jack! Please!"  
  
"All right." Jack shrugged.  
  
"When I leap into the air, catch me around the waist and lift me to the ceiling, okay?"  
  
"Hold up, Rave, I don't think that's a good idea," Spot said putting up his hands. "This isn't a huge room and... well, yanno... he could drop you."  
  
"He won't drop me... 'cause I trust him." In the end, Raven never listened, so Spot sighed and let her go ahead. Raven took two quick steps and leaped into the air, forming a perfect split, Jack grabbed her waist, but tripped on a fold in the carpet, the two of them went crashing into the dresser, causing a huge mess of noise.  
  
"PATRICK SEAN CONLON, WHAT IS GOING ON IN THERE!?"   
  
"MY MOTHER!" Spot yelled. Everyone's eyes widened. Mayfly absolutely flipped  
and started crying hysterically, Raven grabbed her by the arm and practically flung her out threw the window, Jack followed the girls out onto the fire escape just in the nick of time, shutting the window quickly behind him. The all watched in horror as Spot's mom charged into his room and began screaming about the noise. Jack nudged Raven and reluctantly, the three of them ran to their own homes, leaving Spot to his mother's wrath for hours.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Guess I should have learned then that maybe I shouldn't have trusted you so much." Raven said from the middle of the dance floor, her eyes dead on Jack's. Spot cleared his throat.  
  
"Well since you still dance and shit, let's see your damn talent." Spot smirked. Raven smiled. Raven stepped onto the balls of her feet and raised her right leg to attitude front, stepped out into soutanou. She did a small chausse and leaped into the air creating a perfect flying split. She waited to land but realized she wasn't going anywhere. She was still flying in the air. She suddenly realized two very strong hands were wrapped around her waist. When she landed, she spun herself around to see Jack half smiling at her, not a full smile but more along the lines of a sad one. She stood there, speechless. No one noticed Jack take off to catch her until it was too late to make warning cries or even hold him back. Jack let his impulses take over.   
  
"She's gonna explode. She's like a grenade, pull the pin and BOOM! " Smalltalk said into Mayfly's ear. Raven, however, didn't explode. She just continued to stare at him.  
  
"Trust is built over time and not easily lost, Raven." Jack stated and walked out of the room, leaving a bewildered and slightly unnerved Raven behind. 


	2. Lights Out

Spot followed Jack out of the room and into the hallway.  
  
"What the _hell _was that?!"   
  
"I'm tired of her looking at me like I'm a god damn criminal!"  
  
"In her eyes, you are!" Spot countered, shoving a finger into Jack's face. Slowly the  
group who was huddled in the doorway stepped into the hallway to hear the banter.  
  
"I don't get why! It's been... how many years now?" Jack retorted. Raven shoved  
herself through the group and stood face to face with Jack.  
  
"See, May, I told ya. She's like a grenade, and that statement pulled the pin..."  
Smalltalk muttered.  
  
"You wanna know why!? WHY!? DO I REALLY NEED TO TELL YOU WHY!?"  
Raven screamed and shoved Jack backwards.  
  
"Tell me, Raven! Say it! Spit it out! IT'S BEEN ALMOST TEN YEARS, AND  
YOU'RE STILL NOT OVER ME!"  
  
"LOOK WHO'S TALKING! YOU'RE STILL CRYING OVER THE GIRL WHO  
GOT AWAY!"  
  
"YOU DIDN'T GET AWAY!"  
  
"NO, THAT'S RIGHT, YOU _PUSHED _ME AWAY!"  
  
"HEY! Guys, calm down!" Blink said stepping between the two.  
  
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Raven screeched, turning to Blink. "YOU'RE THE  
ONE WHO HAD THAT FUCKING PARTY! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO INVITED  
THAT _BITCH_!" 

"Listen it isn't all his fault!" Jack said defending Blink.

"FUCK YOU FRANCIS!" Raven boomed at Jack.

"Oh...the pain...the pain..." Jack said sarcastically and placed a hand over his heart.

At that moment, an all-out screaming war erupted between everyone in the group. No one could hear each other, but no one cared. They simply continued to curse and yell.   
  
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, JACK! GET OUT!" Raven screamed, her face beet-red and steam practically coming out of her ears.   
  
"Ya know what? Fuck this!" Jack snarled as he stared Raven down. He stormed over to the front door and grabbed the knob.   
SNAP! The lights went out. Darkness immediately flooded the rooms, and all was black.  
  
"No lights... no lights... no lights..." Mayfly chanted to herself.  
  
"Well. That's great," Pie said, letting out a deep breath.  
  
"It's your fault, Jack!"  
  
"_My _fault?!"  
  
"YES, YOUR FAULT!"  
  
"Okay... Blink... alcohol... now." Pie stated.   
  
"_Uno problemo, mi amigo_... I don't know where _la cocina_ is."   
  
"Well, fuck."  
  
"No problem," Spot said pulling a flask out of his jacket pocket. He tossed it to Pie who caught it and took a chug.   
  
"Lights are out... someone turn on a lamp!" Smalltalk stated.  
  
"Smalls, there's no electricity," Raven replied.  
  
"Oh. Um.... does that mean the phones, too?" Everyone groaned.   
  
"Pie and Smalls, can you two go upstairs to the storeroom and get the candles for me?"  
  
"Sure," the two answered in unison. Mayfly stood there, staring around the room.   
  
"No lights... no lights... no lights..." she chanted to herself. Blink inched closer to her, just standing at her side.   
  
"Spot," Raven said, inquiring where he was.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Go find me some batteries... they gotta be in the basement." Spot smirked as he decided to point out something.  
  
"Looks like Mayfly is gonna start hyperventilating soon, so maybe Blink should stay with her... the only pair left is you and Jack." Raven and Jack groaned.  
  
"Well, come on, asshole. I have flashlights in the kitchen." Raven grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him out of the room. Smalltalk and Pie took off upstairs. Spot found the basement door and froze. _The basement... why didn't I say anything?_ he thought. He shook his head, opened the door, and began descending the stairs slowly, breathing harder with each step. Running... he remembered running.   
  
_Creak!   
_  
Spot jumped about two feet in the air. Running... faster... keep running. Spot finally reached the basement and hit himself in the head. _Stop it, Conlon. Get a grip, he ain't behind ya_. Spot stepped into the basement and sneezed from the dust. _Batteries, breathing.... stop it! Fuck off, brain ,and leave me in peace for once!_  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Come here, boy! Don't _ever _defy me again!" Aiden Conlon screamed at his son. Spot dashed out of the apartment, his little legs carrying him as fast as they would allow. Spot's dad chased him out of the apartment and into the stairwell Spot ran into. Spot tore down the flights of stairs as if flying, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. His father never once pulled back. Spot dashed across the lobby and slid for the basement door. He wrenched it open and tore down the stairs, hearing the pounding of his father behind him.  
  
"YOU'LL DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO, BOY!" Aiden slapped Spot across the  
face and sent him sailing across the room. Spot quickly regained himself and scurried up against the wall.   
  
"YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING RUNT! I'M GONNA TEACH YOU A LESSON!"  
  
"DAD, NO, PLEASE! NOT AGAIN! NO!" Spot's blue eyes widened in fear as his  
father stalked towards him.  
  
"DO AS I SAY, BOY!" Spot whimpered as his father grabbed the belt of his pants.  
  
"DAD, LEAVE ME ALONE! NO! PLEASE! _STOP_!" The tears poured from Spot's eyes as his father unbuttoned his belt.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Spot screamed from his position against the wall. His hands covered his face, and his body shook in tortured sobs.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Are you okay?" Blink asked Mayfly. He sat down next to her on the couch.  
  
"Um... yeah... fine... okay... yeah..."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yeah... just peachy... ball of sunshine..."  
  
"May..."  
  
"I'm flippin' out, okay?! I HATE the dark! The lights are gone! I'M GONNA DIE  
FROM... FROM LACK OF LIGHT EXPOSURE OR SOMETHING! EVERYTHING IS  
GONNA START MOVING!" Mayfly screamed, twitching.  
  
"Hey, calm down! I'm here, okay?" Blink said softly.  
  
"I _can't _calm down. When I was six... I had this doll who sat on the edge of my bed. And it was at night, so there weren't any lights. And you know how sometimes shadows make weird shapes? Well, out of nowhere, I'm lookin at her ,and all of a sudden I see this chainsaw going to chop her head off! It was real, I swear to God!"   
  
"May, listen, nobody's gonna chop your head off with a chainsaw!"  
  
"How do you know that?! Blink, what if I die RIGHT HERE by some freaky, evil  
shadow monster-thing?!"  
  
"I know you won't."  
  
"How?"  
  
"'Cause I'm here..." Blink stared into her eyes before pulling her into a hug. Mayfly melted into his arms and forgot they were in the dark. Then, they heard the scream.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"These the stairs, Pie?"  
  
"Smalls, they are the only stairs."  
  
"Oh. I knew that." They began to climb the stairs. "OW!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You stepped on me!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"Did not."  
  
"Did too." Smalltalk stepped into the upstairs hall and zeroed in on a door. "EEP!  
CLOSET!" she shrieked.  
  
"So?" Smalltalk grabbed Pie by the hand and tugged him towards the closet. She opened the door and stared at it in awe.  
  
"IT'S A WALK-IN!"  
  
"Yes, Smalls, I can see that." Pie rolled his eyes before being flung inside the walk-in closet. Smalltalk stepped in after him.   
  
SLAM!  
  
"Uh-oh..."   
  
"'Uh-oh' is right, Smalls!" Pie eater rushed towards the door and tried to open it. He began pulled in on it frantically. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Smalltalk's eyes widened in fear.  
  
"HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!"  
  
"HELP!"  
  
"HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!"  
  
"HELP!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"DON'T touch me," Raven hissed as she lead the way into the kitchen.  
  
"FINE!" Jack trailed behind her.   
  
"Start looking for flashlights."  
  
"Yes, Sergeant." Raven rolled her eyes as they began looking through drawers, once in awhile stealing glances at each other.  
  
"Why?" Raven asked him suddenly, a flashlight dangling from her fingertips.  
  
"Why what?" Jack asked slamming a drawer shut.  
  
"Why did you do it?"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Why did you cheat on me!?"  
  
"Raven, I don't know! Okay?!"  
  
"How can you not know why!?"  
  
"BECAUSE I DON'T! SHE WAS THERE, I WAS THERE, AND I WAS DRUNK!"  
  
"THAT AIN'T AN EXCUSE!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jack stood there with a beer in his hand, laughing loudly, the music blaring in his ears.   
  
"JACK!" Blink cried through the crowd a blonde on his arm. Jack continued to laugh with the group he was talking to, not hearing Blink above the music. Blink tapped Jack on the shoulder, and he spun around to face his friend.   
  
"What?" Jack yelled.  
  
"This is Breezey," Blink said smirking. "She saw you from back there and is interested in... _talking _to you." Jack narrowed his eyes at Blink as he walked away leaving Breezey with Jack. She twirled her dirty blonde hair around her finger and smiled at him.  
  
"Listen, I got a girl," Jack stated plainly.  
  
"Aw, come on... it won't be _serious_. Besides, how would she find out?" Breezey  
giggled and whispered into Jack's ear. A few hours and a few drinks later, Breezey was attached to Jack's lips, and they were stumbling out to his Red Camaro. Jack unlocked the door, and Breezey sat on the driver's seat. She grabbed Jack by his shirt collar and pulled him inside, the car door shutting behind them. Steam rose and situated itself on the car windows.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Didn't you even think about me _once_?!"  
  
"Raven...."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The group sat in the cafeteria on the edge of their seats.  
  
"Has anybody seen Raven?" Mayfly asked.  
  
"Naw, not since third period. She told me she was going for a smoke," Spot said  
lighting up a cigarette himself in the middle of the cafeteria. Anyone who was watching him quickly turned their heads. "That's right, any of you say anything and you're hamburger meat."   
  
"We all know she usually cuts, but she ALWAYS meets us for lunch," Mayfly said, squirming in her seat. Blink shot a glance and her, and she looked down, blushing like crazy.  
  
"Guys..." Pie gulped. "Look no further; the raging bull has just exited her pen." Pie pointed to the far end of the cafeteria where a very pissed-off looking Raven was storming towards their lunch table. Raven locked eyes with Jack's. Jack stared at her and instantly knew what this was about. Jack sent a look to Blink. Lucky looked up from the book she was reading and gulped loudly.  
  
"I'm staying out of this...." she stated quietly and watched Raven, taking everything in.   
  
"What?" Blink said innocently.  
  
"No one will find out, huh?" Jack growled. Raven, at that moment, stormed over next to Jack.   
  
"Hello, Jack, how as the party Friday night?"  
  
"Oh, shit..." Blink said, his eyes widening.  
  
"Shut up, Blink!" Raven snarled before turning her attention back to Jack.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Ravy." Jack sat there, completely cool.  
  
"DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT?! WHAT ARE THESE?!" Raven  
pulled out a bright red thong from her jacket pocket. "I DON'T OWN A THONG THIS  
COLOR!"   
  
"How did you...." Jack stuttered over his words.   
  
"I FOUND THEM IN YOUR CAR! YOU DRIVE ME TO SCHOOL! I LEFT MY  
CIGARETTES IN YOUR CAR THIS MORNING!"  
  
"Ravy, calm down..." Blink said, trying to quiet the girl.  
  
"CALM DOWN!" Raven boomed. Then she stepped on the bench and climbed on top  
of the lunch table. "WHY SHOULD I CALM DOWN WHEN _MY BOYFRIEND_  
CHEATED ON ME FRIDAY NIGHT AT _YOUR _PARTY, BLINK! CALM DOWN?!  
I'LL GIVE YOU CALM DOWN!" She returned her rage filled eyes to Jack. "SO HOW  
WAS SHE JACK? WAS SHE UP TO PAR? WAS SHE AS GOOD A FUCK AS I'VE  
BEEN?! DID YOU SAY THE THINGS TO HER THAT YOU SAY TO ME? YOU  
FUCKING _ASSHOLE_!" A single hot tear slid down Raven's cheek, and she wiped at it furiously, only to allow room for more angry crystalline streaks to down her face. " I  
HATE YOU! I NEVER LOVED YOU! I USED YOU, TOO! TAKE THIS PIECE OF  
SHIT THONG AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR FAT ASS!" she shrieked between her sobs  
and flung the red thong at his face. She jumped down off the table, her tears wracking her body. She slapped Jack across the face and ran out of the cafeteria.   
  
"You dick," Mayfly growled at him. She got up, slapped him across the face, and  
strode out after Raven.  
  
"Ditto," Smalltalk hissed and repeated Mayfly's action of slapping Jack in the face and following her out. The cafeteria was silent until Smalltalk placed her last step out the doors. It then gradually went back to its normal volume.   
  
"Did you really cheat on her?" Pie asked.  
  
"I..."  
  
"Jack, so help me, if you cheated on that girl, I will fuck you up!" Spot snarled through clenched teeth.  
  
"Guys, cool it... it was probably her thong. She just needed an excuse to dump him, right, Jack?" Blink said slinging and arm across his shoulder, staring at the other two boys.  
  
"Yeah, that's it. Those are Raven's, and she just needed a reason to get rid of me," Jack said sadly as he turned his head to the door where Raven's hysterical form could be seen through the glass.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"YOU NEVER TOLD THEM THE TRUTH?!" Raven yelled.  
  
"No..." Jack looked away from her.  
  
"YOU BASTARD! I LOVED YOU, AND YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH SOME  
DUMB BLONDE!"  
  
"Do you wanna know why I cheated, Rave?! AFTER ALL THIS TIME, I FIGURED  
IT OUT!"  
  
"WELL, THEN TELL ME!"  
  
"I CHEATED ON YOU BECAUSE I LOVED YOU SO MUCH IT HURT! IT  
SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH! I WAS ONLY EIGHTEEN AND I LOVED YOU  
SO MUCH THAT I COULDN'T BREATHE HALF THE TIME! I WAS SCARED OF  
LOVING YOU!" Jack stared at her for a moment. "I still love you..."   
  
"You broke my heart, Jack....."  
  
"I know, and it's been killing me since that day." Neither of them realized that the  
space between them had closed to mere inches. Jack was staring down at his high school sweetheart, and Raven was looking up at the man of her dreams. They both realized that they let each other slip away. Jack ran his fingers down Raven's face.  
  
"You're beautiful, you know that? You haven't changed at all," he whispered. He  
cupped her cheek with his hand and gently pressed his lips to hers. Raven pulled back quickly with a look of surprise on her face. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him into a deep kiss. The fireworks sent rushes of tingles down their spines as Jack lifted her off the floor. Raven snapped her face away from his and her eyes darted about the room.  
  
"Did you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?" Jack said still holding Raven in his arms.  
  
"A scream."  
  
"Yeah... shit! Where's Spot?"  
  
"I sent him into the basement for batteries...."  
  
"Raven, the basement?!"  
  
"What's wrong with the basement?" Jack left their embrace and rushed out of the  
kitchen. Raven followed close behind with the flashlight. She clicked it on and a glow of light flooded the hallway. She heard Jack running down the stairs and followed quickly.  
  
"NO! DAD NO!" Spot screamed as Jack came into view. Raven hurried in after Jack and stopped immediately when she saw Spot rocking back and forth, almost convulsing.  
  
"Oh, my God," Raven gasped, covering her mouth.  
  
"Hey, Spot... it's Jack... calm down, okay?" Jack went to touch him, but Spot jerked backwards. "Spot, it's okay... Spot.... SPOT." Spot looked up at Jack and instantly recognition flooded into his eyes.  
  
"Jack?"   
  
"Yeah..." Spot stood up slowly.  
  
"You okay?" Jack asked. Spot nodded his head and practically ran out of the  
basement. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SHOUTOUTS!

Cerriweden: Oh Raven and Jack do loathe each other and well as you can see thats only because they LOVE each other lol. hehe

Kawaii Julie Sama: WELL DUH THERE IS MORE hehe. I couldn't help putting some of my balletness into the story. I thought it would be pretty funny having Jack and Spot doing ballet hehe. Spot's name just kinda came into my head and the fact that it is soooooooo Irish lol. Mayfly is totally psycho sometimes I love it when she flips out hehe, like in the dark lol. 

Patch: Of course everything about this fic is tricky lol.

Sita Bita!!!!!!!!!: Yea I gets mucho love! I'm so glad you luffle this fic seeing as your my BEST EVER BETA!

Headache: I CONTINUED!! EEP! Yes Jack has the worst balance on the plant! Raven does feel a little quilty, but only a smidge hehe. I UPDATED EEP!

Sapphy!: The flashbacks make the story, it's like a tool into their lives before they separated. Jack and Spot doing Ballet is quite amusing isn't it hehe. The beginning of the falling out was throughly explained in this chappy wasn't it hehe. 

SpotLover421: OF COURSE EVERYONE HATES EACH OTHER! Doesn't it make things even more interesting? lol


End file.
